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Charlotte Amalie
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesSt. Croix Church Group Reaches to Suffering Haitians

St. Croix Church Group Reaches to Suffering Haitians

Treasurer Sanida McKenzie (left), and Silton Browne, president of the Seventh-Day Adventist North Caribbean Conference.In an overwhelming response to help ongoing Haiti relief efforts, Seventh-Day Adventist Church members on St. Croix have collected more than $68,000 in two weeks. On Thursday, church officials presented the check to the Seventh-Day Adventist North Caribbean Conference headquarters in Castle Coakley.
“We are mightily impressed with the $68,000 out of St. Croix alone,” said Silton Browne, president of the Seventh-Day Adventist North Caribbean Conference (NCC), headquartered on St. Croix. “We had a goal of $75,000 for relief, but we have a new target set for $150,000, because of the response from St. Croix.”
Browne believes they might be able reach $200,000 with donations from the whole conference, which includes 81 churches on the 15 islands of the British and U.S. Virgin Islands. The conference has 5,000 members on St. Croix, attending eight different churches spread out island-wide; two of those churches are Latino.
Browne said the Seventh-Day Adventists have had a big footprint in Haiti, allowing them to be on the ground and ready to go as soon as the quake hit on Jan. 12. There is a Seventh-Day Adventist university and a 71-bed hospital that fortunately was not damaged, Browne said. At one point after the quake, the hospital and grounds held 500 patients. He said relief workers have already distributed more than four million water-purification tablets.
Wilmoth James, St. Croix Ministerial Association president, gave the check to treasurer Sanida McKenzie before NCC officials at their headquarters in Castle Coakley. McKenzie will send the check to the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA international). Browne said the money will be used for medical supplies, food, water and sanitation.
The funds were raised by church members in the annual Gathering Campaign, which just happened to begin shortly after the earthquake struck Haiti.
“Church members are always committed to care, locally, and at a time like this when they give extra,” Browne said. “In fact they are very generous.”
James said donors can be confident their contributions will go directly to the relief effort mending bodies, families and the hearts of suffering residents of Haiti.

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